Catherine Zeta Jones

I just saw the new movie with George Clooney (Stephen Cousins looka like).

Gawd, this woman is beautiful! By hollywood standards, is she more beautiful than Hedy Lamarr? Rita Hayworth? Vivien Leigh? And talented! She does well in romantic comedies.

George, on the other hand, should be better. The Director makes him mug too much, imo.

The movie, by the infamous Coen Brothers (whom I find incredibly good) is a romantic comedy (not the Coen's usual thing). However, there are splatters of dark humor to make one feel it is the Coen bros but not enough.

I'm looking forward for the two to team up again and again as la Grant/Hepburn; Hudon/Day and bring back the clever romantic comedies.

In Roger Ebert's review of "Intolerable Cruelty," he says the camera lingers on Catherine Zeta-Jones and Ebert remarks, "You just sit there and think, 'My God, this woman is absolutely stunningly beautiful." I haven't seen this movie yet (am a giant Coen brothers fan) but was certainly mega-impressed with Zeta-Jones as an actress, beauty, singer, and dancer in "Chicago." Ironically, I saw her just recently on TV in a movie from '96 and CZJ definitely gets better with age. She was beautiful then, but like many great beauties, I think she is reaching her zenith in her mid to late 30s. And having children added more depth. No, I certainly wouldn't kick that out of...never mind.

But George Clooney as Stephen Cousins lookalike!!!??? Joe, you are such a GUY! George Clooney looks about as much like Stephen Cousins as Elvis Stojko looks like the young Elvis Presley (nothing against Cousins, he just doesn't look like Clooney). Clooney, IMO, has a Cary Grant quality (can't comment on his performance in this film) but in one of my favorite Clooney movies, the underappreciated "Ocean's Eleven," I think he comes across as an American Cary Grant.

BTW, Clooney is another one who improved with age, IMO. In his "ER" days in the '80s, somehow his qualites just didn't hang together. But as he got older and leaner---mmm, mmm, great! Speaking of which, George's dad, Nick Clooney, is quite a hottie too.
Rgirl

I love that Catherine can be an exotic beauty without being exotic at all! Unless I've missed the fad and Wales is now an exotic locale! She certainly has come a long way since the days of "Zorro" and I'm glad to see that she is a gifted actress. No matter what I thought of the film, I was EXTREMELY impressed with Jones in "Chicago". She took a big risk in choosing a project that required so much from her on so many different levels. She proved she could do well with whatever was thrown her way.

Catherine Zeta Jones

These Irish and Welsh Colleens are beautiful. I just recently watched "The Quiet Man" again - one of my all time favorite movies - with John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara ( there was a beauty). I believe Catherine Zeta Jones is from Wales.

There is something very down to earth about them and I think this is part of their beauty.

I remember seeing Zeta Jones for the first time in "Darling Buds of May" on PBS. She was just a very young actress then starting out, but very striking.

Ladskater: you said "These Irish and Welsh Colleens are beautiful." and that is not quite correct. Had you said Catherine Zeta Jones is a beautiful Welsh girl, that would have been correct. You see colleen means Irish girl. Even though the Welsh and Irish are both considered Celtic there's a vast difference between the peoples. (The Irish sea is very wide and very deep.)

Catherine is very proud of her Welsh heritage; she was born in Swansea, capital of West Glamorgan county and speaks Welsh fluently.

A couple of bits of trivia: A traditional Welsh choir sang at her wedding and her wedding ring includes a Celtic motif and was bought in a Welsh town called Aberystwyth (nice town, I've stayed there).

I've posted a couple of sites containing places of interest in South Wales you might find interesting and 'dog' forbid you should might want to visit someday.

We Welsh are very proud of our country and heritage! And I'm sure the Irish are equally proud of theirs.

There's a feature on Zeta-Jones in the latest issue of Biography Magazine. It's mostly about her sense of fashion, so there are some nice photos. She seems to me to embody the "old Hollywood" glamour more than any other actress working today.

Thanks for the links 4dk. I too, have Welsh blood running through me. It's a shame that religion was one of the principal reasons for the Celts to split up. What a nation they would be if they had hung together. You know the West of France is Celtic and the people in Wales can speak to them in Welsh.

Depends on what your idea of exotic is. I live in Wales and it has some of the most beautiful scenery and beaches in the world.

I agree Catherine is a very beautiful woman and a good actress to boot. Maureen O' Hara is a particularly stunning woman, but as a red-head I have a certain affinity towards her Would you believe however that contrary to popular belief red hair and green eyes is not particularly common in Ireland, it is more of a Scottish thing. Irish girls tend to be dark haired with pale skin.

BTW I am Irish and the word Colleen is actually a girls name, it is the americanised version of the word cáilín which is the Irish word for girl.

I have English, Scotch & Irish but so far as I know, no Welsh. I had a penpal from Wales when I was in high school and I don't remember her name. Her father was a miner. I must have lost the address when I moved to Lincoln. I've always wondered what happened to her.

When we first moved to Texas, we made the obligatory trek to The Alamo in San Antonio.

Two things impressed me; how small the Alamo actually is and the number of men of Welsh nationality that defended the place.
(There are plaques on the walls with the names and either the state affiliation or nationality of the defenders.)

I wondered why there were no defenders listed as Texan but then common sense stepped in and I realized that at the time of the Alamo attack Texas did not exist. It was only later after the battle of San Jacinto that Texas came to be.

I will say that reading the plaques and seeing the number of defenders marked "(name) - Wales" made me stand a little taller than my normal 5'2".

rGirl - Do see the movie. The splashes of CoenBros are a hoot anyway. Those costumes of CZJ would be Hitchcok approved and when I think of it, Clooney does look the suave Americanized Grant. Great suits I wish I had.